Make it Make Cents: Getting the Most from Your Revenue Generators
This is the second post in a two-part series about maximizing the fundraising potential of your nonprofit events. In this article we will cover how to maximize your revenue generators during your fundraising event.
Recently, Gazala Uradnik, founder of GFS events, joined us for a very educational webinar on designing an event that brings in dollars. After talking about the basics in Part 1, she dove deeper into each potential revenue stream and how to make the most of it.
Revenue Streams
Sponsorships
The most important thing about sponsorships is having a packet and letter ready to go. When you’re creating your packet, make sure to offer what will appeal to sponsors, such as a feature in your newsletter or blog, or placement at your event. You don’t need to know your event theme or have a logo yet—just sell your organization as a whole. Ideally, sponsorships will cover most of your event cost.
When designing sponsor levels and sponsor benefits, ensure the benefits you’re offering sponsors aren’t costing you too much money, such as a sponsorship that comes with tables. Are you actually making money on that, or is it the same cost as just buying two tables? Sponsor guests may not participate in the event in the same way other attendees might.
Apply early. Start applying for sponsors as soon as possible so you can catch them when they’re making their budget decisions.
Sponsorships are built on relationships. Generally, companies give to organizations where they already have a connection. Unless you know someone high up in leadership, shooting for a contribution from a large corporation probably won’t work. Tap your past sponsors first, your board, and then your network for sponsor opportunities.
Remember that it takes constant communication and a lot of follow-up to secure a sponsorship. Keep asking until you get a yes or a no!
Donations
Get in contact with donors as early as possible, three months or more before the event. In successful fundraising events, organizations communicate donors their objectives before to the event. Don’t just reach out to sponsors and donors when you need them for a donation or to attend an event. Maintain communication throughout the year, and keep them in the loop on your organization’s work and mission.
Absentee donors. Leverage outside dollars from people who don’t or can’t attend the event, as they can still be extremely valuable. Secure a donation in advance, or send a video to those donors by email and let them know they can still make an impact without being in the room.
Matching opportunities. At your event, ask donors if their company matches, and even include the option on your receipt. Then follow-up with them, because some organizations can get tens of thousands of dollars in matched donations.
Get committed! Try to raise 60-70% of your paddle raise total before the event. You will definitely meet your fundraising goal if you can manage that.
Paddle Raise
Gazala recommends getting at least 60-70% of your paddle raise gifts committed in advance of the event date. Then you’ll definitely hit your fundraising goal! Getting these revenue generatorating gifts in advance also helps you determine where to start your paddle raise. You should begin your asks at whatever the highest level is that you have confirmed.
One organization switched from a traditional seated, paddle-raise style event to a one-hour luncheon, where the organization put out envelopes for giving, and also offered a QR code for giving with your mobile device.
Make sure to have that moment of asking for the gift. You can’t put it out and hope that will people will do it—you have to make a directed ask. Create a moment of opportunity for donors to give. This is a dedicated ask, perhaps with a video, when the entire room is focused on giving.
Live Auctions
Live auctions are a form of entertainment—they’re fun revenue generators and they bring energy into a room, getting people ready and primed for the paddle raise. Gazala suggests ten to twelve items in a live auction at the maximum.
Typically, opportunities you can’t buy make great auction items, such as tickets to a sold-out show, or a twelve-person dinner with an exclusive restaurant chef. But Gazala argues there are other items that can draw your guests’ interest, that are focused around your mission and the people important to your community.
In one example, a beloved member of the community baked a pie, and the pie itself was auctioned off. An executive director led a fishing trip personally, and it was a hit.
Silent Auctions
Gazala proposes that silent auctions aren’t as popular as they once were, and that for the amount of work that goes into soliciting items, nonprofits’ time would be better spent on cultivating donors. And there are plenty of ways to bring the same level of entertainment to your guests as a silent auction would.
Bid card raffle: For $35-50, everyone can turn in their bid card at the end of the night to be entered into a raffle. Choose a prize that’s about 10% of the value of everyone turning in their bid card, and hand that out at the end of the night.
Dessert dash: This is a very fun game that organizations use to wrap up the night. Using the same number of desserts as you have tables, each table collaborates to bid on a “spot” in the dessert dash. The higher they bid, the higher their position in the dessert dash. At the end of the night, tables “dash” in order of which table bid highest to grab the dessert of their choice.
Raffles. Make sure to choose raffle items that are universally-liked and not too specific, like golf clubs or jewelry.
Auction games. There are lots of fantastic auction games out there, such as Heads or Tails or Last Hero Standing. These are all great revenue generators that can make up the gap if you don’t focus your event so heavily on an auction. You can even sell tickets to your auction games ahead of time!
Bring It Back to the Mission
The best auction game is one that ties back into your organization’s cause. Gazala provided a great example from an organization that provides resources to students in Nepal. Guests could purchase art created by Nepalese students, or donate to give sanitary kits for young girls. These revenue generators bring guests back to the mission and drive giving toward the cause. These create powerful moments of connection between guests and why they’re there.
Gazala ended this wonderful webinar by reminding us to focus on budgeting, cultivating your donors, creating thoughtful revenue generators are the key to a successful event.
